By Josh Troy
Clarksdale Advocate
Missed opportunities cost Lee Academy in a 24-21 loss last Friday at Pillow Academy, which marked the opening of the season.
“We’re young,” said Colts coach Rick Johnston. “We’re starting three sophomores on defense, along with three guys who didn’t play football last year. We’re inexperienced, but we need to grow up quickly. I thought the effort was there last night. We didn’t tackle well. It’s early in the year, and we’re going to work on that. We’ll start addressing that on Monday to try to eliminate some of the missed tackles. That was definitely a problem last night. We had a crucial turnover at a crucial moment, but we work on ball security every day.”
Johnston mentioned that Lee was driving down the field and had an opportunity to take a two-score lead but turned the ball over.
“Those are mistakes we can work on and eliminate,” he said. “Hopefully, we will do that.”
Senior receiver Tanner Fava caught a touchdown pass from senior quarterback William Walker, while Walker himself ran for a touchdown. Senior Sandy Tillis also ran for another touchdown. Fava successfully connected on all three PATs.
Junior Darren Williams intercepted two passes, and junior Owen Dixon had a fumble recovery for the Colts.
“They played well in defending the pass, but our corners need to come up and provide some help against the run,” Johnston said. “That’s something that was lacking last night.”
Lee Academy is set to host Indianola Academy in a non-district game at 7 p.m. on Friday. The Colts will commence district play at home against Delta Streets Academy on September 15th.
Johnston emphasized that the goal is for his team not to make the same type of mistakes when district play begins.
“We certainly hope so,” he said. “That’s definitely the plan for sure.”
